by

McKenzie

Our daughter Blake has been in a baking phase for quite some time, but her range of interests in this area do not seem to broaden.  While she insists on helping me with a number of culinary projects, if it were up to her we'd make nothing but cupcakes, cupcakes, and more cupcakes. I'm not sure if she finds more joy in the baking process or the eating process, but I try to indulge her occasionally. However, a family (and a waistline) can only handle so many cupcakes.  This weekend I thought our "bakery" or as her father cleverly refers to it, our "Blakery", might whip up something a little different.  We cooked up our own playdough in red, orange, yellow, and green and we used coconut, orange, lemon, and peppermint extract to make them smell delicious. It was remarkably easy. It couldn't have taken more than 15 minutes and the dough was perfect. 

I was concerned that cooking something that wasn't edible would be a disappointment, but when I got out our cupcake pan Blake was thrilled to form her own little playdough cakes. We rolled out thin layers of dough to lay across the top for frosting, rolled tiny little balls for sprinkes, and of course formed little cherries for the top.  I played in the bakery for a while with her and then she continued on her own while I cleaned the kitchen. In total, I think she was "baking" for over 2 hours.  It was also a big hit with the kids at our barbeque the next day.  Some of the parents were even caught getting into it.  There is something theraputic about playdough, almost like a stress ball, and the lemon and orange scents smell enough like a starburst that you almost want to take a bite of it.  No worries if the kids actually do, it is completely nontoxic.

This following recipe came from my Stepmom, or "Miss Sandy" as she was known by her preschool students for many years. These days she is more commonly referred to as Grandma Sandy around our house, but she still knows her playdough.  I've listed it exactly as it came to me. ( Because we wanted to make a number of colors I doubled the recipe.  I also divided the dough into 4 balls and added the color and extracts after the cooking process.  It took quite a bit of kneading to get them mixed through, but I thought it might be quicker than making 4 separate batches. We are storing ours in ziplock bags and it seems to work perfectly.)

Grandma Sandy's Homemade Playdough

1 cup white flour

1/4 cup salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 teaspoons food coloring

2 tablespoons extract (optional)

Combine flour, salt and cream of tartar in a medium saucepan.  Add water, food coloring and oil.  Stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly until a ball forms in the center of the pot.  Remove from heat and let cool.  Take the mixture out of the pot and knead on a floured surface until smooth.  Store in an air tight container.